San Diego Retools Olympic Bid, Hoping To Make USOC's Short List For '24 Games

An earlier plan for San Diego and Tijuana to jointly host the '24 Summer Games is "being retooled from a binational effort to a San Diego-only bid," according to Roger Showley of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. But San Diego '24 Exploratory Committee Chair Vincent Mudd said that the effort "would involve people and facilities from southern Orange County into northern Baja California." Showley reports the new proposal "would include facilities on both sides of the border, such as Tijuana's international airport and a proposed 80,000-seat soccer stadium." Other venues would "take in university athletic facilities" in San Diego. The Exploratory Committee's "first goal is to get onto the U.S. Olympic Committee's short list of American cities in January," as the final U.S. candidate will be chosen by the end of '14. Mudd "withdrew comments he made to the San Diego Business Journal last week that the USOC is sending a delegation here in the next few weeks to learn about San Diego." He said, "We spoke out of turn." Mudd said that San Diego "may not make the cut this time or in 2028 or 2032, but previous hosts have succeeded after several attempts." Mudd: "I think we've got a pretty good chance between 2024 and 2032 of landing this sucker." He added that San Diego "already has venues for as many as 22 of the 26 Summer Olympics sports" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/13).